Nanomaterials as signal amplification elements in aptamer-based electrochemiluminescent biosensors
Introduction
A biosensor is an advanced analytical tool that employs a biological entity (cells, enzymes, antibodies, peptides and oligonucleotides) and incorporates a transducer component (e.g. optical, electrochemical and impedance) to convert biological responses into a readable signal due to specific interactions with analyte(s) of interest [1], [2]. Among various types of biosensors, electrogenerated chemiluminescence, commonly known as electrochemiluminescence (ECL), is a popular transduction mechanism in biosensors, acquiring a wide range of applications such as in the fields of medicine, food industries, biosecurity and environmental monitoring. Over the past ten years, the number of published papers on ECL biosensor development has steadily increased. As shown in Fig. 1, the yearly publication statistics display an increasing trend in published manuscripts. Scheme 1.Scheme 2.Table 1.
ECL is a type of chemiluminescence where light emission is initiated by an electrical process [3]. ECL possesses several advantages over chemiluminescence (CL), photoluminescence (PL), and electrochemistry (EC). The electrochemical component, for example, can effectively control the position of light emission. In addition, very low background signal could be recorded as a result of selective control of excited-state generation, and also, the ECL emitter would be regenerated after the emission. Although ECL emits light, unlike spectroscopy, it does not require an additional light source, hence the concerns such as scattering of light and luminescent impurities are avoided. [4]. ECL has a remarkable impact as a transduction method in the biosensor domains owing to its exceptional signal-to-noise ratio in real-life and complex matrices such as cell lysate, urine, and blood [5], [6], [7]. Recent innovative and promising approaches to develop ECL sensors with high sensitivity and specificity have emphasized the incorporation of nanotechnology with excellent regenerative potentials [8], [9]. Nanotechnology-integrated amplification strategies for ECL are an appealing prospect due to the ever-increasing demand for highly sensitive bioassays and the trend towards simple and miniaturized sensors [10].
Nanotechnology is constantly evolving not only in its increasing sophistication but also in its widening applications, leading to its expanding frontiers. In biosensors, nanomaterials facilitate enabling technology to improve the current sensing systems [11]. Compared to their bulk counterparts, nanomaterials possess high surface-to-volume ratio, quantum size effects, high adsorption, and reactive capacity. High sensitivity and low detection limits of several orders of magnitude are the key benefits of the insightful incorporation of nanomaterials in analytical biosensors [12]. These properties have been used in several biosensing applications to detect various clinical biomarkers, pathogenic microorganisms, allergens, toxins, and pesticides [13], [14]. Utilizing a wide range of nanomaterials can improve the effectiveness of both biological elements and transducers in multitude of ways as the size and shape may be easily modified. For example, nanomaterials with significant surface area, have been utilized to immobilize biomolecules and carry ECL emitters [15], [16]. Intriguingly, different kinds of biomolecules with different compatibility, stability and selectivity have also been utilized that ultimately contribute to the advancement of biosensors [17]. Highly specific aptamers, short single-stranded nucleic acids, are popularly used as bio-recognition elements in many biosensing works. Aptamers are developed in-vitro using a method known as Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX) [18] and have been employed in ECL system owing to their ability to bind to a wide variety of targets with excellent specificity and selectivity.
A substantial number of ECL aptasensors have been developed since the development of ECL aptasensors more than ten years ago [19] and thereafter several excellent reviews on nanomaterial-based aptasensors have been published [8], [20]. A greater understanding of the signal amplification mechanism offered by nanomaterials is advantageous in enhancing the effectiveness and accelerating the development of nanomaterial-based ECL aptasensors. Thus, the current review focuses on the recent developments in nanomaterials-based signal amplification approaches in ECL-based aptasensors that have been reported since 2015. To provide meticulous information of ECL-based biosensors, this review discusses (i) basic ECL principles and general sensing mechanisms; (ii) various functionalities of nanomaterials accompanied with emphasis on recent successes in this field; and (iii) modification and functionalization of nanomaterials for efficient signal amplification strategies of ECL aptasensors.
Section snippets
ECL mechanism
Hercules and Bard independently published the first comprehensive investigations on ECL in 1960 s [21]. Since then, several studies into the mechanisms of ECL and the development of ECL strategies have been investigated. ECL could be generated via various mechanisms. The two most common routes are annihilation and co-reactant pathways [22], as illustrated in schematic 1. Upon applying alternating pulse potential to an electrode surface, a reduced and an oxidized species are concurrently
Nanomaterial-based signal amplification strategies
In any sensor development, signal enhancement is one of the keystones to achieve ultrasensitive and stable sensors with low detection limits. To this end, many functional nanomaterials with varying compositions, shapes, sizes, and surface features have been employed to enhance ECL signal via interesting and promising procedures. Although nanomaterials exhibit numerous remarkable attributes due to their nano-sized structure, only two properties significantly contribute to the overall performance
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgement
This work was partly supported by the Universiti Brunei Darussalam’s grant UBD/RSCH/1.4/FICBF(b)/2020/025, UBD/RSCH/1.4/FICBF(b)/2022/047, and Brunei Research Council BRC-10.
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